


Bad Moon Rising: Part 2

by TheIndifferentDroid



Series: Bad Moon Rising [2]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 04:35:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10846581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIndifferentDroid/pseuds/TheIndifferentDroid
Summary: After getting stranded in front of Kylo’s house with a flat tire, tension builds as you try to devise a plan to get home.





	Bad Moon Rising: Part 2

Kylo sat on the steps his porch, about twenty feet away from you and your car. You made him leave you alone and wouldn't let him sit with you, still apprehensive about the man. You really wanted him to just go inside, but he had insisted he at least stay on the porch to keep an eye on you.  You weren’t sure how you felt about that.

You sat in silence, the feeling of the cold concrete seeping through your jeans, your back against the door of your car. There were too many problems to solve and it made you just want to lie down and sleep it off. You were eerily calm. Cars hummed by, passing on the interstate just above the street. You mind was scattered. Every time you began to formulate a plan, you’d lose your train of thought.

After ten minutes of brooding silence, Kylo couldn't take it anymore. He spoke up. "Let me drive you home." 

You looked up at him, squinting through the darkness to try to see his face. You scoffed instantly. "You can't be serious." You still couldn't read his expression. 

He returned the scoff, almost sarcastically. "Dead serious."

You stared him right in the eyes, or what you could see of them, briefly stealing glances of his forearms propped up on his thighs. Seconds passed. You hated how good he looked, and you hated that you were even thinking of that right now. Attributing your thoughts to your exhaustion, you sighed. "Not a chance." 

Kylo didn't move. His features twisted slightly; you could tell from the way the shadows played on his face. It was silent again for a brief moment. He was deep in thought. You held your breath, anticipating his next move.

"I can walk you home," he said suddenly. 

A loud, brief cackle slipped from your lips and echoed in the empty street. "Oh, yes. That's much better!" you exclaimed sarcastically. 

At that, Kylo stood up quickly, gently stomping his foot on the wooden step. In two strides, his long legs had him back to his front door before you could even react. 

You had become surprisingly comfortable on the ground, so you stayed seated, but still called out to him. "Hey!" You paused, trying to remember his name. "Kylo? Kylo!" The second time, you said his name a little louder, more confident in its pronunciation. It made him stop, having opened his front door, one foot past the threshold already. He didn't turn around. 

You reluctantly retreated from your spot against the car and gently walked up to the house, just below the porch steps, unsure if he was going to continue going inside. It was almost as if you were afraid to scare him away, like an animal, if you moved too quickly. 

"I - Where are you going?" You remained at the bottom of the stairs, now wondering if you had provoked him. Maybe he didn't want you to come after him. You were a huge disturbance in his night, after all. He had no obligation to you.

He kept his hand on the doorknob but slightly turned to face you. Now that he was under the porch lights, you could see the peppering of moles on his face. "I'm going home. As should you."

Taken aback, you stepped away slightly, shivering as you crossed your arms against your chest.  Opening your mouth to speak, nothing came out. It was useless and ridiculous, what you were doing. About to argue with a stranger, about to beg him to not leave you out on the street alone, as if you’d be any safer with him. The exhaustion was affecting your common sense at this point.

A siren wailed in the distance, getting closer, and shook you out of your internal dialogue. You turned on your heel to leave.

You walked slowly. You didn’t want to leave, not really. Deep down there was something that wanted to keep you there, near Kylo. But you had a theory.

The porch creaked under Kylo’s weight as he moved. “Where are – “

“I’m walking home,” you interrupted.

“By yourself? I don’t fucking think so.” His voice was stern and stopped you in your tracks.

You took a deep breath before you turned around, crossing your arms, prepared to defend your actions. 

But there he stood at the top of the steps, now completely towering over you, as if he wasn’t tall enough before. His chest stuck out, and his arms were pushed back at their broad shoulders, fists balled up. Even if he hadn’t been on the porch, you were sure he’d have grown a foot, at least, just because of his posture. He exuded confidence.

You could tell where this was going, but you asked anyway. “Excuse me?”

“I said –.”

Raising a hand, you cut him off. “I know what you said. I’m just trying to figure out why you give a shit. About me. Walking home. Or at all.”

You watched his face as his features hardened and his eyes grew wide just briefly. His face flushed beneath the cover of darkness. He started down the steps towards you, and you immediately took a step back as he reached the ground beneath the last step.

The motion made him throw his hands up to have them fall at his sides as he rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ. I’m not going to hurt you. Haven’t you realized that by now?”

You remained silent, unsure of how to react. The man was obviously easy to set off, and you didn’t want to do it again.

He began again, after taking a deep breath. “I – I’m sorry. I – I’m just trying to help you. There’s just bad shit, bad people out there. And I’m just trying to help you, and you’re being incredibly… stubborn.” 

You felt the lie coming to the front of your mind, ready to spill out of your lips. You said it before you could even think to stop yourself. “I don’t need your help.”

Before you could even finish your sentence, Kylo seemed to have had enough. In a swift motion, he turned on his heel and scaled the steps in one jump, crossing the porch and closing the door behind him. You’d really done it this time. 

You didn’t bother going after him. Besides, you had, in fact, said you didn’t need his help. You were getting déjà vu. Only you hoped he’d ignore your refusal for help just as he had earlier tonight.

The steps were uncomfortable, but they weren’t as cold as the concrete, so you sat there. You entertained returning to your car, where there would at least be a heater, but you didn’t want to waste gas, and quite frankly you were too emotionally and physically drained to move much further at this point. The least Kylo could do was let you sit on his stoop for now.

Though it was just a ruse earlier, you were now seriously considering walking home. If you hadn’t sat around earlier wondering what to do and would have just taken off, you could have been home by now. It wasn’t like your car was going to get fixed tonight, anyway. You had no reason to be here anymore. This strange man was right. You were being stubborn.

Sitting there, you decided to call your friend, Rey, thinking maybe at least having someone to talk to would make your walk go by faster, and be a little safer. If you weren’t going to call your parents earlier, you definitely weren’t going to call them now. Rey was the only one you could think of that wouldn’t kill you for both waking her up and being such an idiot.

Before you could dial her number, a passing car slowed to a stop, pulling up to the curb just in front of yours. You froze, hoping if you didn’t move, no one would see you. You began to realize there weren’t any other houses on this part of the block, just a warehouse on one side and a body shop on the other. Your heart pounded in your chest, waiting for the driver to make a move. You started going through scenarios in your head. If he got out, you’d just smile, say hi, be cordial. But what would he be doing? Did he see you sitting out here – alone? Your stubbornness was going to get you killed.

The driver stayed in the vehicle, while the inside of the car was illuminated by the blue light coming from his cell phone. You could just barely make out his facial features, but you were trying to get a good look in case you needed to know what he looked like later.

The driver’s head turned sharply in your direction, craning around his passenger seat to look towards the house. You panicked, standing up and walking back to the front door. _Just act natural_.

You thought you should act like you belonged here, but you couldn’t just barge into a stranger’s house just to get away from a possibly unreal danger. But you went through the motions anyway. You reached for the doorknob, with no intention of opening the door. You turned around to see if the driver was following you. Just then, the door swung open and you turned back around with you hand on your chest, obviously startled.

There was Kylo, less than a foot away from you.

The warm air poured out of the house like a blanket, and you were sure some of the heat was coming off of Kylo himself. Realizing he had scared you, he reached out a hand to place on your shoulder. You didn’t back away this time.

“I’m… sorry. About, um…. I called a cab for you.” He pointed over your other shoulder to the street where the new car sat idling.

You sighed, your heart still beating out of your chest, but slowing down now. The last few minutes were slowly starting to make sense. You turned to look at the car, then back at Kylo’s hand on your shoulder. Once he realized what he had done, he quickly removed his hand, running it through his hair and down the back of his neck.

Realizing the awkwardness of the situation – and the night as a whole – you didn’t even look back at Kylo before turning to leave. Once you reached the bottom of the steps, you stopped, and only then did you slightly turn to utter a very humble, “Thanks.”

You weren’t even sure if he heard you, but you honestly couldn’t look the man in the eye.

And he couldn’t stop looking at you.

The back seat of the cab felt like the most comfortable place in the world after the night you had just had. The seats were warmed, the heater was running on high. You settled into the back seat and gave the driver your address.

To ward off falling asleep in the back of the cab, you decided to follow through with calling Rey. Whether she was awake or not, you needed to fill someone in on the night you had.

As you assumed, you got her voicemail. You were almost relieved. You just needed to vent, and not be judged, and the recorder wasn’t going to talk back.

“Okay. I’m just going to leave you a message because this is way too long to text you about.”

You paused, finally fully reflecting on the last few hours. Your head hurt.

You detailed your terribly eventful day at work, building up for dramatic effect before delving into the story about your flat tire.

“So, I’m an idiot. I get off the interstate early, and… and I get a flat tire. At midnight. Downtown. I completely forget everything I’ve ever been taught about changing a tire.”

You thought you heard the driver chuckle, but you ignored him. You were too tired to deal with anyone else’s shit today.

“And I’ve apparently crash landed in this asshole’s front yard, and he’s just casually walking me through what to do from the darkness, as if it’s not creepy. Of course, I get rid of him, but then I can’t get any of the lug nuts off. So I figure, hell, this guy can help. Rey. He was… so built.”

The driver chuckled again, you were sure this time.

“Anyway, we… well, _he_ gets the tire off. And guess whose goddamn spare tire is missing from their trunk?” You groaned and yawned. “So now I’m in a cab. And I’m exhausted. And I’m rambling. Just remind me to tell you more about this guy tomorrow. He was…” You paused. “Hell, I’m just going to say it, he was hot.” You make eye contact with the driver in the rearview mirror. Both of you quickly look away. You faked another yawn. “Hotheaded. He was hotheaded. Guy was an absolute ass. Bye.” Abruptly hanging up, you slumped down in the back seat, sighing.

It had become too quiet in the cab. You could just barely hear the cool jazz music whispering through the speakers. Deciding against starting a conversation with the driver, you tried to catch glances of him each time the car passed under a streetlight. You weren’t at the right angle to see his face. But his hair you could see, and his orange locks shone like the sun each chance they got.

You were nearly about to doze off when you felt the car come to a stop. The driver turned around in his seat. “Is this it?”

Groggily stirring in your seat, you nodded. ”Yes. Thank you. How much -?”

“Nothing. Your friend took care if it earlier.”

You started at him intently. _Of course he did_. You grabbed your things and exited the car, saying one last “thank you” before closing the car door.

Even in your tired state, you were sure you saw the car still in front of your house when you looked out the window after looking your front door.

 

Kylo’s phone rang. He simply answered it and said nothing.

“She’s home. I even made sure she got inside before I drove off.”

A small smile tickled the corner of Kylo’s lips. He nervously wiped it away with his hand, as if someone would see him. “Thank you.”

“Anytime. You know I’m good for it.”

“I just really couldn’t let –“

“You totally fell for her, didn’t you, Kylo?”

There was silence for a moment. Kylo froze. Was it that obvious?

The other man chuckled. “Listen, I’m going to tell you this because I’m your friend.”

Kylo remained silent.

“I think she likes you. But she also thinks you’re an asshole.”

Both men laughed. “Well,” Kylo began, sighing. “I’ve been called worse. At least I still have a chance.”  
  
“A chance? How are you going to see her again? If you think I’m telling you where she lives…” 

“Hux, no. She’ll be back.” Kylo leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair as he smiled. “She can’t leave her car here forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr @ TheIndifferentDroid


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